Shin'en 2

Shin'en 2

Shin'en 2 launched into space on
December
3rd,
2014
and
is now
unknown km from Earth.
Its primary destination
is
a heliocentric orbit,
which
it's set to arrive at on
June
3rd,
2018
.
Wherever Shin'en 2 goes, it carries its trusty
transponder.
Shin'en 2 often chats with humans from
Kagoshima University and Kyushu Institute of Technology

Shin’en 2, also known as Abyss 2, is a polyhedron-shaped space probe on a mission to test a deep space communication technology. Shin’en 2’s digital transponder will allow for amateur radio operators to interact with the probe. The lightweight space probe was built using carbon fiber reinforced plastic by students at the Kagoshima University and Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan. The probe was launched as a secondary payload aboard the rocket that carried Hayabusa 2 to space. Shin’en 2 will operate in a heliocentric orbit, between Venus and Mars.